In the field of Radio Frequency (RF) remote controllers, it is known for such RF remote controllers to be paired with a plurality of devices to be controlled of the same type. For example, an RF remote controller may be paired with two or more television sets, the television sets being located in different rooms within, say, a residential building. Examples of other devices to which the RF remote controller may additionally/alternatively be paired with include, by way of example, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) players, lighting systems, air conditioning systems, etc. Such RF remote controllers may be arranged to operate using IEEE 802.15.4 global standard RF protocols (http://www.ieee802.org/15/), such as the RF4CE (RF for Consumer Electronics) protocol currently being developed by the RF4CE consortium (www.rf4ce.org), and the applicant's SynkroRF™ entertainment control network protocol (www.freescale.com/synkro), etc.
Typically, at any given moment only one device of any given type may be selected and controlled by an input means of a user interface of the RF remote controller, such as appropriate buttons or keys. In order to select a different device of a certain type to that currently selected, a user of the RF remote controller is required to manually select the device that they wish to control via the user interface.
This need for a user to manually select the required device to be controlled can significantly degrade the user experience. For example, in a case where a user moves from, say, one room to another, it may be necessary for that user to change the selection of multiple types of devices (e.g. DVD player, television set, lighting system, etc.), resulting in a cumbersome experience for the user. Such a scenario is not just limited to when a user moves from one room to another, but may occur when a user moves from one area within, say, a room or other open space to another area within the same room or open space. For example, in a large room or hallway there may be devices located within different areas of the room or hallway.